Our Zeus Virus Detected scam removal guide works for all Microsoft Windows compatible browsers. The Zeus Virus Detected is in reality a browser hijacker component, which may invade your Chrome, Firefox or other browser you are using. It may impose some potentially unwanted changes to your homepage and default search engine, by redirecting your searches to various promotional websites and advertisements. And while this browser hijacker’s activity is not related to some virus infection or malicious software, such as Trojans, Ransomware or other harmful programs, it may still be something you may not want to keep on your computer. That’s why, in this guide, we will explain to you how to effectively remove it from your system, in case that you have been disturbed by its intrusive activity. In the paragraphs below, you will also find some useful information about the nature of browser hijackers and the best prevention measures you can take in order to keep them away from your PC in the future. If you think you have been infected by the real Zeus Detected and not by the fake tech support browser pop-ups, then follow these zeus virus detected removal instructions.

If you are facing a program like Zeus Virus Detected for the first time, you may be a bit worried about your system safety, especially when you don’t know how and why it has silently replaced the homepage and search engine of your default browser. The constant page redirects you are probably experiencing every time you try to browse something may also seem suspicious. Fortunately, there is no need for panic, as Zeus Virus is neither a nasty virus, nor some dangerous Trojan or Ransomware. It is just another browser plug-in that falls in the category of browser hijackers. Generally, these pieces of software are online tools, which are widely used for the sole purpose of directing your online activity to different ads, pop-ups, banners, links, sales sites and sponsored pages. The main reason for that is money – browser hijacker developers profit through the clicks they get from these sponsored ads, which is a common practice known as Pay-Per-Click. And while this practice is considered a perfectly legal online business model, there are some users, who find the intrusive browser hijackers and their activity unwanted, thus they may want to remove them.

How is the Zeus Virus distributed online?

This browser hijacker could be found on various web locations. Usually, the software developers bundle it with other attractive and free software or distribute it through email links and attachments. One can also find browser hijackers like this one in torrents, file sharing sites, freeware platforms, different installers of games, players, optimization software and with some free versions of paid software until you purchase the ads-free version. However, these programs don’t sneak inside silently. To end up with one such annoying hijacker, you need to install it on your computer yourself. This usually happens when you run the setup of some other software, which you have downloaded from the web. However, users often don’t pay attention during the installation process and skip the major custom/advanced options, which give them the possibility to prevent the bundled hijacker from getting installed. It’s a common mistake to simply run the quick or standard installation, this way letting the browser hijacker (and some other potentially unwanted programs) get installed along unnoticed.

Here is how a browser hijacker like Zeus Virus Detected can annoy you:

Even though Zeus Virus Detected definitely cannot be compared to viruses or other really malicious online threats, such as Trojans and the recently popular Ransomware, it may still be a source of great online irritation and disturbance to some users. With no doubt, the imposed changes to the search engine and homepage settings, as well as the constant page redirects may prevent users from using their browser the way they are used to. Moreover, the unstoppable flow of unwanted advertisements may clutter the screen and even make the browser perform slower than usual. The browser hijacker may also collect some information about users’ online activity and their most recent searches, browsing history, visited websites and likes. This collected information, called also “traffic data”, may be transmitted to Zeus Virus’s developers and be used for various marketing purposes, including matching your interests with the ads, displayed by the hijacker. Some people may not feel good about this activity; therefore, uninstalling the annoying program may be their best solution. This, however, may require some detailed instructions, as the ones in the guide below. The successful removal of Zeus Virus Detected can only be effective if all of its related files are deleted from the system. In the next lines, we will show you how to detect the right ones and manually delete them. In case you need some more assistance, please do not hesitate to leave your comments and we will be glad to help.

Zeus Virus Detected Scam Removal

Many types of malware will restrict your access to their core files. It is highly recommended that you reboot your PC in safe mode before attempting to use this guide.

WARNING! If you are using Windows 8,0 or later and/or your operating system is installed on a fast SSD drive this may fail to work. In this case click here to see how to start your PC in Safe Mode.

#1: Uninstall the malicious program from your control panel

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Enter control panel to look for any suspicious programs, which may have installed on your PC. To do that:

Navigate to your Desktop

Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)

In the Run window that just opened type appwiz.cpl

Go through the list of programs and find Zeus or anything else that may seem suspicious. Right-click on it and choose the uninstallation option

WARNING! Carefully read any confirmation messages that may be created in the process. Sometimes you may get offers to download more Adware applications and this can be linked to either the Yes or the No answer depending on the wording!

Optional:

Go through the list of programs again and check online for any potentially unwanted programs. We have an article that covers this awesome free software that makes sure that your computer is free from bloatware and programs that you don’t need.

#2: Remove Zeus From Chrome

Now we’ll remove the extensions that the malware has attached to your browser.

Open your Google Chrome browser.

Type chrome://extensions/ in the URL address bar and press Enter.

Click on “Developer Mode” on the top right and look for the extension installed by Zeus and anything that might be related to it. Copy their IDs (the string of letters), then remove them by clicking on the trash bin icon.

Type Regedit in the Windows Start Menu and press Enter. Go in : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions and delete the entries corresponding to the suspicious IDs you recorded.

#3: Remove Zeus From Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox browser.

Type “about:support” in the URL address bar and press Enter.

Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm.

#4 Remove Zeus From Internet Explorer

Open your Internet Explorer internet browser.

Click on the Gear icon on the up right, then on manage add-ons.

Go through the list disable any suspicious extensions.

#5 Remove any leftover parasitic processes

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From the task manager:

Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and open the Task manager, then click on the Processes

Go through the list of processes and look for unknown or otherwise suspicious entries.

If you see anything suspicious right click on the process and shoes Open File Location, then terminate the process and delete any files you find in the directory.

WARNING! If the directory you open from this menu has no files inside of it it’s probably because the malware has hidden them. You need to reveal hidden files and folders in order to be able to see them. Click here if you don’t know how to do that.

From the start menu:

Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)

In the Run window that just opened type msconfig

Click on the Startup tab.

This menu controls which programs are loaded when windows starts after a reboot. Disable anything that seems suspicious. Optionally you can also disable any program that you don’t need and also has a high impact on your startup time.

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